Season by Season
1997 to 1998

The Bulls' Triple Double

The Bulls made it six titles -- and their second trilogy-- in the last eight seasons.

Six championships in eight seasons. A repeat three-peat, if you will.
The Chicago Bulls knew it wouldn't be easy, but they also knew that
if they could do it, their place in the pantheon of the NBA's greatest
teams would be assured.

The Bulls opened the 1997-98 campaign with All-Star Scottie Pippen
on the injured list after undergoing surgery on the sore foot he had
hobbled upon for much of the previous season. Pippen missed the first
35 games, but Toni Kukoc did an excellent job taking his place in the
starting lineup. After breaking from the gate 8-7, the team hit its
stride by winning 16 of 20 and was 24-11 when Pippen returned to action.

The resurgent Indiana Pacers, a veteran team led by rookie coach Larry
Bird, overtook Chicago and held a half-game lead at the All-Star break.
But Chicago won 25 of its next 29 and captured the Eastern Conference
with a 62-20 mark as Michael Jordan captured his 10th scoring title
(28.7 ppg) and fifth MVP trophy, Dennis Rodman earned his seventh rebounding
crown (15.0 rpg) and Pippen had a typically outstanding all-around second
half.

The Pacers, led by Reggie Miller (19.5 ppg) and Rik Smits (16.7 ppg)
and bolstered by the acquisition of Chris Mullin (11.3 ppg, an NBA-best
.939 free throw percentage), crossed the finish line with the second-beat
mark in the East at 58-24, earning Coach of the Year honors for Bird.
In the Atlantic Division, Alonzo Mourning (19.2 ppg) and Tim Hardaway
(18.9 ppg, 8.3 apg) helped Pat Riley's Miami Heat run away from the
field and finish at 55-27, 12 games ahead of improving New Jersey and
injury-riddled New York.

• Jordan hit the last shot and retired a winner.

Out West, meanwhile, the Utah Jazz overcame the loss of John Stockton
for the first 18 games of the season following knee surgery and rode the
broad shoulders of Karl Malone (27.0 ppg, 10.3 rpg) to a 62-20 record.
Utah earned the home-court advantage throughout the playoffs by virtue
of having won both regular-season matchups against Chicago.

The Jazz had stiff competition in the West. The Los Angeles Lakers,
with exciting talent like Shaquille O'Neal (28.3 ppg, 11.4 rpg, a league-leading
.584 field goal percentage), Eddie Jones (16.9 ppg, 2.00 spg) and the
tantalizing Kobe Bryant (15.4 ppg), finished atop the Pacific Division
at 61-21 along with the Seattle SuperSonics, who slotted Vin Baker (19.2
ppg) into Shawn Kemp's spot without missing a beat as Gary Payton (19.2
ppg, 8.3 apg, 2.26 spg) orchestrated another outstanding season. San
Antonio, with Rookie of the Year Tim Duncan (21.1 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 2.51
bpg) forming a remarkable Twin Towers with David Robinson (21.6 ppg,
10.6 rpg, 2.63 bpg), stayed on Utah's heels throughout the season and
finished at 56-26, a mark that was matched by the Phoenix Suns.

The Bulls eased past New Jersey 3-0 and Charlotte 4-1 in the first two
rounds of the playoffs, then secured a berth in the NBA Finals by outlasting
the stubborn Indiana Pacers in seven games. That set up a rematch against
the Jazz, who struggled past the veteran Houston Rockets in five games
in the first round before whipping San Antonio 4-1 and stunning the
Lakers with a four-game sweep.

The Jazz went into the Finals riding high off their series against
Los Angeles and with the benefit of nine days rest, while the Bulls
were coming off a hard-fought series against Indiana. What's more,
Rodman was nursing a thumb injury. Many thought the Bulls were beginning
to look their age and were ripe to be knocked off, but Jordan, for
one, wasn't buying it. "I'm just enjoying the moment," he
said on the eve of the Finals. "We don't take anything for granted
this time. We're having fun and appreciating each step we take."

The Bulls gained a split of the first two games of the Finals in
Salt Lake City by winning Game 2, 93-88, behind Jordan's 37 points.
Chicago smothered Utah 98-54 in Game 3, holding the Jazz to the fewest
points in any game-regular season or playoffs-since the advent of
the 24-second shot clock prior to the 1954-55 season. While many who
earlier had written off Chicago were now leaving Utah for dead, the
Jazz sent the series back to Salt Lake City by splitting the next
two games in Chicago, dropping Game 4 86-82 but surprising the Bulls
83-81 in Game 5 as Malone broke out of his series-long slump with
39 points.

Game 6 proved to be another magical moment for the Michael Jordan memory
book. With Pippen suffering from a back injury and barely able to hobble
up the floor, Jordan knew he had to carry the team. And that's exactly
what he did, scoring a series-high 45 points and making the steal and
game-winning basket with 5.2 seconds left that gave the Bulls an 87-86
victory and their repeat three-peat.

"Big surprise," said NBA Commissioner David Stern as he
presented Jordan with his sixth NBA Finals MVP Trophy. "Michael
Jordan, you grace us with your presence."

Jordan also was the MVP at the midseason All-Star Game at New York's
Madison Square Garden. Amidst much fanfare about passing the torch
on to a younger generation, Jordan scored one for the old folks by
tallying 23 points to lead the East to a 135-114 victory.